Integra Telecom

High Speed Internet, Edmonds, WA: Caisson helps private school save thousands

Caisson this week helped a school parish in Edmonds, WA save thousands of dollars on Ethernet services with Integra Telecom.

Featured industry: Education

Featured service: Ethernet over TDM

Caisson services for this project:

  • Ongoing account monitoring 
  • Resolved service quality issues
  • Conducted a telecom services audit
  • Presented price options from competing providers
  • Negotiated renewal contract

Caisson has helped the education industry with telecom for a decade. It's our great pleasure because we know how important schools are to our communities. 

That's why we were thrilled this week to help a long time school customer renegotiate its Ethernet services contract and save nearly $2,500 a year. 

Today's schools are in a unique position with regard to IT infrastructure. So much of learning is going online. Network security is an ongoing issue. Schools need robust Wi-Fi networks, public networks, office administration networks, and all of them need to be connected to high speed Internet access. Schools need sophisticated firewalls to prioritize traffic and network security. E-911 must be activated. The list goes on. And the cost goes up.

In this case, we made the cost go down.

Business Ethernet Kent, WA: Caisson delivers advanced network connectivity to worldwide marine manufacturer

Caisson helps growing marine manufacturer connect its new location to its headquarters and data center with Fiber+ and EPL services.

Business Ethernet services featured in this project:

For this project Caisson:

  • Evaluated bandwidth needs
  • Qualified new business location to identify providers with fiber network connectivity available
  • Secured service pricing from multiple, competing service providers
  • Handled contract negotiations and installation scheduling

Case study:

A large U.S. based manufacturer of commercial and recreational buoys and other marine accessories with worldwide distribution opened a new location in Kent, WA. The new location houses business administration staff. A local commercial real estate agent recommended telecom services broker, Caisson to the client for business Internet service at the new location

2014 Telecom Expo Reveals Smart Trends But Highly Biased Council

This week, I attended the 2014 Integra Telecom Tech Expo. Keynote was Mitel Vice President of Sales Engineering, Joshua Haslett talking about the new role of CIOs as the "front-edge source of product innovation and customer engagement for businesses." Speakers from Metaswitch, Polycom, ADTRAN and Ciena addressed topics, including networking for the hybrid cloud, network virtualization as it relates to Wi-Fi deployment, and security with hosted exchange. Happy to go into detail about any of these topics. If you're interested give me a call or leave a comment. But here's what you really need to know about the latest trends in business telecom:

Information that comes from telecom carrier representatives is highly biased.

At the expo, if you listened to the cloud services representatives you might think the whole world is moving to the cloud and that you're crazy not to move to the cloud yourself.

October Business Phone and Internet Service Promotions Now Posted

Welcome to October. Fall's here in earnest. Caisson placed our first pumpkin of the season on the shelf today.

In telecom, many providers are continuing their September business phone and Internet service promotions through this month. The promos are up on our Current Promotions page now, including:

From Comcast Business:

Add a Voice Line with Comcast Business for only $19.95

This is great for existing Comcast Business Internet customers. Still using the old phone company for your voice service? Now is a great time to bundle in those voice lines and save.

Plus several promos from Integra Telecom:

  • Cloud Firewall Services
  • Business Connect Bundle + Security
  • Confidence Builder (i.e. new, low rates for high bandwidth in Fiber lit buildings)
  • Hosted and Managed SIP Bundles
  • Business Connect Bundles
  • Early Termination Credit Program from Integra Telecom
  • Hosted Voice Connections Bundle
  • Multi-Site Business Bundles
  • Go here for details on each

Sharing with you the most current telecom pricing promotions is just one way we work on your behalf. Contact us today for more details or to buy services now.

"Fax Never Busy" feature is dead, R.I.P. What to do now.

For small businesses that rely on faxes, one of my favorite features has always been Fax Never Busy. Unfortunately, as with many legacy features these days, Fax Never Busy is going away.

Business phone and Internet provider, Integra Telecom was one of the last carriers to offer this feature. It just notified me today that Fax Never Busy is no longer available. Part of its move to modernize its platforms.

Fax Never Busy was a function of the old Octel Voicemail platform. A few years ago, Intregra moved from a traditional voicemail platform to a new soft switch voicemail platform. Still, it kept the old platform up and working. Until now. 

Here are two alternatives: 

We can place a Call Forward Busy feature on your POTS line. This will make is so that when the line is busy/being used additional in-bound calls will be forwarded to a virtual fax number that will receive and store the fax as a PDF in the cloud. Email notification is an option on this, so customers can receive faxes as PDFs attached to emails right away. You can receive and print the PDFs you are sent.

The inconvenience of this is that there's a storage capacity limit, so you'll have to go in and clear out old PDFs every so often.

Alternatively, you can get a secondary fax line (and machine).

As with all telecom, these alternatives are customizable. Which of these you go with, if either, depends on your unique business needs.

For example, I am working with a customer right now who does not want his faxes to go to email. He wants them to come off a fax machine. So we are working to determine how many lines (and machines) he needs.

Let me know if you have any questions about what's right for your business. I can give you pricing on a variety of configurations. My direct line is (206) 420-0140.

September 2014 Business Phone and Internet Service Promotions

This month's business phone and Internet promotions are now up on our Current Promotions page. They include:

From Comcast Business:

Add a Voice Line with Comcast Business for only $19.95

This is great for existing Comcast Business Internet customers. Still using the old phone company for your voice service? Now is a great time to bundle in those voice lines and save.

Plus several promos from Integra Telecom:

  • Cloud Firewall Services
  • Business Connect Bundle + Security
  • Confidence Builder (i.e. new, low rates for high bandwidth in Fiber lit buildings)
  • Hosted and Managed SIP Bundles
  • Business Connect Bundles
  • Early Termination Credit Program from Integra Telecom
  • Hosted Voice Connections Bundle
  • Multi-Site Business Bundles
  • Go here for details on each

Sharing with you the most current telecom pricing promotions is just one way we work on your behalf. Contact us today for more details or to buy services now.

 

Who Hasn't Used An Expletive When Talking Telecom?

Have you seen this humor video? It's about how stuck we all feel when it comes to suffering poor service by residential high-speed Internet and cable providers. It's good for a laugh (warning, it includes an expletive). I especially like the part about the "barely trained technicians who knock once while you're in the shower and then promptly leave." 

Business customers can relate. Ever tried to run a business while waiting for a telecom technician to arrive sometime within the service install timeframe of 8 HOURS? It's maddening.

Business owners have the chance to demand an outstanding customer experience.

Unlike residential customers business customers aren't trapped. They have a choice, albeit limited, when it comes to their phone and Internet service providers (Century Link, Integra Telecom, Comcast Business, etc). That choice, however, seems somewhat false and exercising it just causes headaches. More empowering is the fact that businesses have a choice in how they buy telecom service. 

There are two ways to purchase and receive business phone and Internet service. Buy direct from the service providers (see headache comment above). Alternatively, businesses can chose to work with an experienced telecom broker and completely bypass the providers' sales process. When businesses choose brokers they change business telecom for the better. Here's how.

Vote with your dollar.

Telecom brokers work with all the service providers so you don't have to. And they manage the install experience, wielding an influential whip on your behalf. Brokers' services are usually free. Learn more about how telecom brokers are revolutionizing the industry here.

As the alternative to direct sales representatives, telecom brokers are sometimes referred to as the "indirect channel" in that they are another avenue for bringing in new customers. In this way, brokers have the ear of the telecom giants. More on that coming up, but first a disclaimer:

I'm a broker, so naturally I'm advocating for the buy from a broker route. But I'm also a business owner and I want better telecom service for my business and clients. Plus, I've worked the direct side of telecom as a customer care rep, telecom provisioner and sales person. I've seen the inner workings of the telecom giants. I know that what telecom brokers solve for the giants will ultimately mean more resources get put toward better sales support, more engineers and true product and service innovation. All that means happier customers and lower prices.

When you work with a broker you win:

1. A professional. The best brokers have years of experience. They exist to be your fierce advocate upfront and for years to come.

2. The best rates for the best products (brokers have access to all the same promo pricing, special deals and competitive maneuvering as direct sales reps, don't ya know). Here's how.

3. No B.S. Brokers work with all the 40+ telecom service providers, so you don't have to.

Read about additional benefits here.

High-speed Internet via fiber connections, 100 Mb to 1 Gb dedicated Internet connections, MPLS, hosted voice; telecom is business rocket fuel. Together, we can make sure that telecom customer service shapes up. Telecom has the chance to create an outstanding customer experience!

As always, if you have any questions about business phone and Internet service please call me direct at (206) 420-0140. I'm famous for giving away tons of free advice.

About Brian Wade

Brian Wade is founder and president of telecom brokerage, Caisson Technologies. He has worked in telecom for 15 years, including at Integra Telecom as a customer care representative, service provisioner and sales representative. He launched Caisson in 2005. He writes about telecom products, promotions and industry trends on his blog.

May 2014 Phone and Internet Service Promotions

Sharing with you the most current telecom pricing promotions is just one way we work behind the scenes on your behalf.

This month's business phone and Internet service promotions include:

  • Cloud Firewall Services
  • Business Connect Bundles
  • Mitel PBX Purchase and SIP Trunking
  • Hosted Voice Connections Bundle
  • Multi-Site Business Bundles
  • more...

 

Seattle EoC Prices Continue To Slide

Northwest-based telecom carrier, Integra Telecom has lowered the prices of its popular Business Connect Bundle service.The 10Mb integrated EoC (ethernet over copper) used to be selling for $599 per month and included 4 to 8 voice channels. Now that 10 Mb EoC service sells for $449 with 10 voice channels. Integra Telecom's Broadband Bundle Service has been very popular with downtown Seattle small businesses.

Here are some more details regarding this new Integra Telecom EoC promotion:

McKillican American Inc. Selects Caisson Technologies to Improve Its Telecom

Wholesale distributor, McKillican American Inc. is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. It plans improved telecommunication services at several of its locations in the U.S.A. The company chose Washington-State-based Caisson Technologies to provide telecom consulting and to deliver telecom services and equipment.

Beginning with the company's Oregon and Idaho locations, Caisson identified available carriers. This is known as “qualifying a location” in telecom speak, and it's the first step in buying telecom.

“There is obviously a great deal of expertise with Caisson Technologies that eliminates the telecom language barrier. Caisson is really good at dissecting problems within our telecom infrastructure, condensing details and revealing solutions in a way we can understand.”-Marc Emond, IT Manager, McKillican American Inc.